Freneskae
Freneskae is a realm that exists beyond Gielinor within the multiverse. It is the homeworld of the current Elder Gods, Zaros, Seren, and the Dreams of Mah. Once considered a "perfect" world, Freneskae is now a dark wasteland. Its toxic atmosphere is riddled with constant lightning storms, and volcanic eruptions and lava flows mar its surface of bare rock. Its native life struggles to survive in the harsh climate. In addition to the Mahjarrat, Freneskae was home to the Mahserrat, Mahkorat, and the Chelon-Mah, and is the only world on which muspah and nihil may be found. History The previous universe In the previous cycle of the multiverse's existence, Freneskae was considered a "perfect" creation of the Elder Gods, much as Gielinor is now. As such the Elder Gods constructed their Elder Halls on Freneskae before retiring for an unknown amount of time. It can be assumed that Freneskae was once a lush and fertile world, much like Gielinor. However, there is no solid information available about Freneskae prior to the most recent Revision. Contained within the Halls were five eggs from which the current generation of Elder Gods - Jas, Ful, Wen, Bik, and Mah - would eventually hatch. When they did, the new Elder Gods drained Freneskae's Anima Mundi in order to nourish themselves. With the power they gained from this act they were able to carry out the Great Revision and destroy the entire multiverse, except for Freneskae itself. However, the act of draining the world's anima permanently disfigured it, transforming it from a "perfect" world into the blasted wasteland that it is today, as well as presumably extinguishing all the world's native life. The Elder Gods then departed Freneskae to begin shaping the multiverse in search of creating a new "perfect" world. Mah has played a significant role in Freneskae's history.]] Freneskae's anima was insufficient to fully nourish all five Elder Gods. When they hatched, Mah appeared to be stillborn, having consumed an inadequate amount of anima to fully develop. The other four Elder Gods left her on Freneskae, believing her to be dead. Mah survived and took up residence on Freneskae, but never developed sentience or consciousness, only instinct. Her first instinct was to take what little divine energy she possessed and use it to create two beings to keep her company as playthings. These beings, the divine aspects of dark and light energy, both of which Mah symbolised, would come to be known as Zaros and Seren, respectively. For many years Zaros and Seren remained with Mah, tending to her. However, Zaros grew dissatisfied with this duty and came to resent Mah for her "wasted potential." He desired to leave Freneskae and learn about the multiverse on his own terms; Seren, however, felt an obligation to their creator and wished to continue to care for her. As time passed, Mah spent more and more time asleep, as Freneskae's already depleted anima was diminishing further and unable to sustain her. Zaros eventually carried out his plan to leave Freneskae, while Seren stayed behind for Mah's sake. Mortal creations Mah often had nightmares, during which she would unconsciously create other forms of life. The most notable of these were the Mahjarrat, a race of mortal but long-lived shapeshifters and warriors, that came into being during one of Mah's dreams about Zaros and Seren. The Mahjarrat lived a very harsh and dangerous life on Freneskae, never numbering more than a few hundred at a time and at several points nearly going extinct. and came to worship "Mother Mah" as their creator-god. Mah also formed the Mahserrat and Chelon-Mah, presumably through similar means. Seren grew concerned that Mah's creations were draining her divine energy, and so she posed as Mah and taught the Mahjarrat the Ritual of Rejuvenation as a means of returning some of Mah's energy to her. Mah's nightmares also gave rise to the muspah, which the Mahjarrat came to fear. Eventually, Seren realised that there was nothing further she could do for Mah, who spent most of her time comatose and her brief bouts of semi-consciousness wailing and screaming and hurting herself. She taught the Mahjarrat the Ritual of Enervation for these times of unrest, so that they might draw more energy from Mah and return her to sleep. Seren then departed Freneskae to seek her new home, though it broke her heart to leave her creator behind. Second Age . Zaros' failure to cure the Ilujanka's infertility still haunts him, though he still has hope.]] Thousands of years passed, during which Gielinor was discovered by Guthix and its recorded history began. At some point during Gielinor's Second Age, the Menaphite gods Icthlarin and Amascut searched the multiverse for beings to fight in the Kharidian-Zarosian War. They found the Mahjarrat on Freneskae and offered to bring them to Gielinor with the promise of large, bloody battles. The Mahjarrat held a debate about whether to go, which eventually turned violent, leaving one Mahjarrat dead and another sacrificed to the Ritual of Rejuvenation. Following this the Mahjarrat as a whole agreed to fight for the Kharidians on Gielinor, and accompanied Icthlarin through an interdimensional portal. Zaros eventually encountered the Ilujanka and pledged to cure their infertility in exchange for their service in his empire. He returned to Freneskae and found Mah comatose and unaware of her surroundings. He created his Sanctum in Mah's mountain and harvested her divine energy, which he used to manipulate various existing life forms in his search for the solution to the Ilujanka's infertility. While this process led to the creation of the nihil, Zaros failed to find the cure and realised that he would need to transcend to Elder godhood himself in order to fulfil his promise. He returned to Gielinor with the intention of speaking to the Elder Gods, but instead learned about their nature and that of the Great Revision. This knowledge horrified him and he decided to work to save mortalkind by stopping the next Revision. When Zaros was defeated in combat by the Mahjarrat Zamorak at the end of Gielinor's Second Age, his spirit fled to Freneskae, where he existed as a faint shadow of his former self. Though it took many thousands of years, Zaros was able to regenerate his strength and consciousness by absorbing energy from the muspah. Lacking a physical body, he remained incorporeal during this time, which allowed him to avoid detection by the unconscious Mah. He had no contact whatsoever with any other sentient beings until the year 169 of the Fifth Age, when the Mahjarrat Azzanadra succeeded in restoring the Zarosian temple at Senntisten and reestablished contact with him. At this point Zaros began making preparations for his return to Gielinor. Sixth Age for the first time.]] In the Sixth Age of Gielinor's history, the World Gate was rediscovered, presumably by the Mahjarrat Sliske, hidden in the Shadow Realm. As the time had come for Zaros's return to Gielinor, Azzanadra enlisted the aid of The World Guardian, his friend and ally, to journey to Freneskae through the Gate and bring Zaros back. The World Guardian navigated Freneskae's dangerous surface, found Zaros's Sanctum, survived an encounter with a group of nihil, and laid eyes on Mah herself before finally meeting Zaros. Zaros tasked the World Guardian with absorbing some of Mah's energy and weaving a simulacrum for Zaros to inhabit. At this point, the World Guardian had the choice of weaving a dark simulacrum, to restore Zaros to his full strength, or a light simulacrum, to sabotage his new body. Regardless of the choice, Zaros finally regained his physical body; his full presence caused Mah to awaken, and Zaros and the World Guardian barely escaped her grasp. The two returned to Gielinor through the World Gate while Mah vanished from her volcano. During The Light Within, the adventurer brought Seren to the Elder Halls located here to restore her soul with the help of Zaros. Afterwards Seren and the adventurer returned to the Tower of Voices in Prifddinas. During Children of Mah, the same adventurer arrived with the rest of the Mahjarrat to hear about Zaros' plan to save the Mahjarrat from dying out. Zaros convinced the Mahjarrat (and Zamorak) to follow his plan, which involved they would siphon Mah's energy into themselves. This would repower them, and the power they would absorb would be so much that they would never have to use the hated Ritual of Rejuvenation again. The assembled Mahjarrat (and World Guardian) found out that Mah had willed a large tower that "pierced the Abyss", which was the cause of how their powers were draining at an alarming rate. Seren was later forced to kill Mah out of mercy, and all that remains on Freneskae are the muspah, nihils and Mah's own nightmares that manifested after her death. References See:Cosmology